Eli's 4th party theme was a no brainer. He loves the Octonauts and since we have a pool and were planning on a swim party it was the perfect fit. Octonauts are a Disney Jr. show (its actually pretty cute) where the characters live under the sea they "explore, rescue, and protect" the sea creatures. There aren't really and Party City Octonaut decorations but that didn't stop some crafty mommas from making their own. And its awesome because they shared them FREE! Between my printables ($14 at office depot) and my Dollar tree frinds (the paper lanterns, silly string, crepe paper and blue polka dot plates) Everything but the food cost around $65, including the orange theme wrapping paper and goodies for the goody bags, talk about party on a budget! Thanks pinterest community! Thanks to Leigh @ Leigh Tells it Like it is for the printables set, it was everything you need. I even used the little 2" circles of the octo-alert and and taped them over the label on out bubble give away to make octo-bubbles. I loved these boxes from On the Verge and they were perfect for the a pair of goggles which was our goody bag gift. I printed these on cardstock so they had a little bit of weight to them. The goggles were only $2.50 ea. at HEB so it was a pretty inexpensive goody bag. I also used some of the 2" circles from above and glued the characters randomly to the boxes. I also snagged the "puffer fish" idea, which were in the goody boxes too, from Rookie to Rockstar. I found my fish" in packages at the dollar store, 3/$1. She also has the cute printable I hung by the door/goody bags. OK now that I'm all linked up, here's our Octonaut party... Since the party was in the backyard we put a sign on the door to direct traffic. I just copied the Octonaut symbol to a blank document in word and downloaded a font called Rosewood (I used it on the invitations too) then made the sign. and a sign at the gate We put up a couple umbrellas for shade We decorated the breezeway with crepe paper, dollar store paper lanterns, jellyfish (see below), and felt bubbles (also below.) We already had a blue sun sail up for a little shade and it added to the atmosphere. I hung the banner on the garage door and used one of the pennants for the kids cooler. These little jellyfish were another pinterest find. The kids and I made several and hung them in the breezeway and through out the house. They were really simple. I bought a package of foam bowls, eyes, and party coordinated crepe paper at the dollar store. I poked a hole in the bottom of the bowl. The kids each got two pieces of curling ribbon and 4 long pieces of crepe paper. I tied them all together in the middle with the end of a third piece of curling ribbon. Then fed the other end through the hole and pulled it tight and hot glued the eyes. We gently crumbled the crepe paper to make it less straight. The little sea horses were a hit too. Eli already had a tone of "sea creatures" so I just used them randomly to decorate. Its hot here in Houston so the food was all inside. I used the seahorses and some Octonaut toys along the window sill. For bubbles, I used leftover felt circles from Eli's Rainbow Fish Costume last Halloween, I cut way too many. I just stapled them to curling ribbon and hung them. The felt worked well because we got a little rain shower and they didn't ruin, but you could just as easily used scrapbook paper. Normally, i try to make a cake but this year I just didn't have time since we just got back from a vacation last weekend. So I ordered a plain one and added decorations... I think it worked well, it was really cute We had cupcakes too. I wasn't sure on the total number but one thing I knew is everybody loves cake. I bought some short clear plastic cups and was able to drop a cupcake into them to send extras home with guests. The party ended up being small but it was perfect and he was one happy camper! (check out the Octo-pod centerpiece.) Between swimming and cake/gifts I did a silly string fight. It worked to motivate the kids to get out of the pool and help them dry a little bit more before they came inside. Here's the before and after A good time was had by all and I just love a laid back party. Happy Birthday to my sweet boy who brings us lots of joy and laughter. He's growing into quite the personality.